State police say a truck driver sparked a wreck on Interstate 80 near Tannersville on Wednesday morning that involved his big rig and eight passenger cars.

DAVID KIDWELL

State police say a truck driver sparked a wreck on Interstate 80 near Tannersville on Wednesday morning that involved his big rig and eight passenger cars.

No serious injuries were reported when the nine vehicles tangled in the eastbound lanes around 10:20 a.m.

Trucker Leesent Stapleton, 66, of East Stroudsburg "failed to drive at a safe speed" as he approached traffic backed up for a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation work zone, according to state police.

He lost control of his Freightliner 18-wheeler and struck seven of the eight other cars involved.

A passenger in one of the cars, Jaclyn Roush, was taken by ambulance to Pocono Medical Center with what a state trooper called moderate injuries. Roush lives in Nescopeck. A woman driving another vehicle was also taken to PMC.

Troopers impounded the tractor-trailer.

Joan Franks was headed to Wind Gap to see her granddaughter when she was hit from behind.

"I was coming down (the hill) and before I knew it, I was hit from the back and (pushed) over onto that side of the road, and then I hit another car," she said.

Franks, of Pocono Pines, said she saw a tractor-trailer in her rear-view mirror as the crash happened. Her Chevrolet Tahoe had front and rear-end damage, and the rear window was blown out during the crash.

She sustained a small cut on her face after her head hit the sun visor and pushed her eyeglasses into her face.

Wednesday's pile-up happened about two miles from a fatal crash early Monday morning that involved five vehicles, including four tractor-trailers.

Daniel Snyder, a trucker from Youngstown, Ohio, was killed in that wreck, which started when a flatbed truck lost its load of concrete slabs. Snyder rear-ended another tractor-trailer that pulled over with a flat after hitting a slab moments earlier.

I-80 East was closed for more than 15 hours while that wreck was investigated and cleaned up.

As a result of Wednesday's crash, damaged cars littered the interstate, and state troopers interviewed all the drivers involved. The speed limit in the area is 55 mph.

Both eastbound lanes were closed for about 45 minutes, when one lane was reopened. The other lane reopened around 1 p.m.

Police plan to do a safety inspection of the tractor-trailer and say Stapleton may face charges pending the outcome of the inspection.